Macaws, larks, laughingthrushes, kingfishers, birds-of-paradise, pelicans, parrots and violetears… How can we afford to lose any of them? The greatest threat to birdlife around the world today is the wild-caught bird trade. Millions of birds are being killed by a mix of people that simply do not know any better and catch these wild birds for disposable income, and people that simply do not have a choice and are forced into eating the beautiful birds from their forest. We need to do everything we can to help keep birds safe in the wild: http://www.wildbirdtrust.com/portfolio/grey-parrot-project/ Go to the new Wild Bird Trust website to learn more about our research and conservation projects in Africa. Please consider making a contribution to the Wild Bird Trust to help us stimulate positive change for wild birds in 2014!

We are very proud to bring the wonder and vibrance of birds in the wild direct to you every week. Hundreds of amazingly skilled wild bird photographers go out everyday after work, between meetings, on holiday, on the weekend, during retirement, anytime they can get out to photograph our planet’s beautiful birdlife. Some of the most stunning birds, like the crested barbet in this edition, have found homes in our cities and delight millions of people around the world at bird feeders and watering points. Pick up your camera, open your heart, and join the Wild Bird Revolutiontoday!!

Blue & yellow macaws are resident breeders in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, with a small population in Panama. (Ryan Voight)Malabar larks are territorial breeders in W India and prefer the open country, cultivated lands and scrub at altitude. (Santosh Mulik)Snowy owls are the largest owl in North America and have a projected life span of 10-35 years in the wild. (Joshua McCullough)Great barbets prefer the broadleaf evergreen woodlands of the lower-to-middle altitudes of the Himalayas in N India, Nepal and Bhutan all the way to parts of SE Asia across to Laos. (Swethadri Doraiswamy)Brahminy kite are found in Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and SE Asia across to New South Wales (Australia), and are common throughout their range. (Vinayak Yardi)Orange-headed thrushes are found in the moist broadleaved evergreen woodlands, bamboo forests and secondary growth with thick understorey and ferns on the Indian Subcontinent in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, and all the way through to SE Asia and Java. (Vinayak Yardi)Male and female Violet-backed starlings sharing a bite to eat. They are distributed throughout SubSaharan Africa. (Nobby Clarke)Red-crested pochards are found in lowland marshes and lakes in S Europe and Central Asia, migrating to the Indian Subcontinent and Africa during the northern winter. (Ripan Biswas)Blue-tailed bee-eaters breed across SE Asia, but are seen seasonally in parts of the Indian Subcontinent. (Ramashesh Athri)Oriental dwarf kingfisher prefer the lowland forests across much of the Indian Subcontinent and SE Asia in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. (Rahul Sarkale)Striated laughingthrushes prefer the northern temperate regions of the Indian Subcontinent all the way to Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Tibet and Nepal, where they live subtropical or tropical moist lowland and montane forests. (Rahul Deshpande)Collared aracaris are resident breeders from S Mexico to Panama, and are also found in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica. (Owen Deutsch )Oriental white-eyes are found in small groups in open woodland throughout tropical Asia from the Indian Subcontinent to SE Asia all the way to Indonesia and Malaysia. (Ashok Gaikwad)Painted storks are found in the remaining swamps and wetland areas of the open plains of tropical Asia S of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent all the way into SE Asia. (Marashetty Seenappa)Greater birds-of-paradise are resident breeders in the lowland and hill forests of SW New Guinea and the Aru Islands (Indonesia). (Markus Lilje / www.rockjumperbirding.com)Red avadavats prefer the open plains with tall grasse or grain crops near permanent water flooded by the monsoon in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. (Gurum Ekalavya)Immature bald eagle feeding and looking at the photographer. These amazing eagles are found throughout North America and the northern part sof Mexico. (David Lychenheim)The little-known and hardly-ever photographed yellow-fronted parrots are endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands where they prefer montane woodlands with Podocarpus and Juniper. (Ingeborg Van Leeuwen)Brown pelicans live on both the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines of North adn South America. (J.Bernardo Sánchez)Resplendent quetzals are found from S Mexico to W Panama and play an important role in Mesoamerican mythology. (J.Bernardo Sánchez)Sparkling violetears are widespread in the highlands of N and W South America in most of the Andes N from Argentina and along the Venezuelan Coastal Range, as well as the Tepuis. (Kerri Martin)Common hoopoes are found throughout Eurasia in a variety of different habitat types and have been separated into 9 subspecies (with two more proposed). (Munish Kaushik)Short-eared owls are found on all continents except Antarctica and Australia, and are thus considered to have one of the largest distributional ranges of any bird. (Caesar Sengupta)Blue vangas are found in the subtropical or tropical dry and moist lowland forests of the Comoros, Madagascar and Mayotte. (Jonathan Rossouw / www.rockjumperbirding.com)Baya weavers are found across the Indian Subcontinent and SE Asia, flocking on grasslands, cultivated land, scrub and disturbed habitat. (Akshay Jadhav)

Please join the Wild Bird Trust page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to receive all wild bird photo updates and news from our research and conservation projects in the field. Submit your own photos and become part of this important public awareness campaign to bring the magic of wild birds to the world. Prepare to be blown away every week… The Wild Bird Trust was founded in South Africa in August 2009 with the primary objective of keeping birds safe in the wild. The trust aims to encourage the use of flagship endangered bird species as “ecosystem ambassadors” in their indigenous habitat. The trust focusses on linking ordinary people with conservation action in the field through innovative marketing campaigns and brand development. Saving Africa’s birds is going to take a determined effort from all of us.

Ongoing Series

Hōkūle‘a's Worldwide Voyage: Using nothing but traditional non-instrumental navigation techniques, members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society are embarking on a multi-year journey around the world on board Hawaii's legendary Hōkūle‘a canoe. (Photo courtesy ʻOiwi TV)

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